Simoncelli relieved to escape injury

The 250cc graduate was relieved to suffer only grazing to his elbow and thigh, and severe bruising to a finger, when he had a high side in the first complex of corners at the Malaysian Grand Prix venue.

"The first half of the day was relatively difficult because we couldn't get the bike to work properly and lost lots of time, then to top it off I had a crash," said Simoncelli.

"I had gone out with new tyres and after half a lap I came back in because of the same problems. I did a technical check and I went out once more.

"In the first left-hander although I was really paying attention - maybe not enough - the bike catapulted me off. I hit the asphalt hard and thinking about it now I was lucky just to get a few grazes, it could have been a lot worse."

The Italian was able to resume running for the final few hours of the test and was relatively happy with his pace despite the accident.

"We went back to work in the afternoon and things were much more positive as the bike felt much improved and I was able to ride it better than yesterday, the feeling was better and the time I did wasn't by chance," said Simoncelli, who ended the day 15th quickest, 2.3s off the pace but only half a second adrift of his team-mate Marco Melandri.

"Now we need to organise our ideas and think about a plan of attack for the next tests so I'm going home with high morale."